Sunday, November 18, 2012

Cover Better Than the Original?

Brooke Benton wrote a little song in 1959. His friend, "The Lion of the Blues" Bobby Bland, recorded it in 1960, and they had a minor hit. It has a similar feeling to many of their contemporary Nina Simone.

The lyrics and slow rhythm makes it an easy cover for many artist trying to present themselves as soulful singers. Most recently Drake and Rihanna created this musical abortion:

I mean WHAT THE FUCK????? It makes my ears bleed. Instead of taking some musical initiative with awesome material, and using Rihanna's considerable talent to create something very special, they bent poor Brooke Benton over and Legitimately Raped him. Like the bad kind of rape, not the kind that you will get a "Gift from God" from, but the kind of rape where a woman shuts down her reproductive process. I think it is called "rape-rape" or some such.
Have these "artists" every heard of a melody? Seriously, WTF???

The good news is that Beth Heart and Joe Bonamassa also did a cover of this song. Beth is well known for a soulful voice that is reminiscent of Janis Joplin, if Janis could actually carry a tune from time to time.

So, which is better? My opinion should be clear... I think the Heart/Bonamassa cover is amazing. The original is nice, but a little uninspired, and the Rihanna/Drake cover is just pure crap.